Austrian Airlines (OS, Vienna) will commence a weekly Vienna to Mauritius service effective October 29, 2015. The route will be operated by one of the carrier's six B767-300s. The Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) subsidiary says it decided to enter the Mauritian market after seeing strong uptake on its Malé, Maldives, flights.

“Flights to Mauritius enable us to more effectively use our intercontinental network with our existing fleet of aircraft during the weak winter season and thus increase our productivity,” CEO Jaan Albrecht said.

According to the ch-aviation route database Air France, Air Mauritius, British Airways, Condor, Corsair International, Meridiana, Thomson Airways and Transaero Airlines all vie for a piece of the non-stop Europe - Mauritius market.

Austrian says it expects local passengers to comprise two-thirds of those flying to Mauritius, with transfer passengers from other European destinations flying there via the Vienna hub making up the rest.